Broken Bad Boy
8

PERCIE

Fourteen months ago...

"Oh, boy. Did you just apologize? I can't believe you can still remember words. I thought your brain is drained, too." Grandma snorted while raising her brow.

"Stop making him feel guilty, Grace. Look at him. He doesn't have any more left in him other than his skin and bones. Why won't you try to cheer him up by telling him about his new apartment."

"Wait, what?" I asked quickly. I felt something new inside me. Excitement? Hope? "You found an apartment for me?"

Grandma hit Grandpa's arm playfully. "You, old mutt. Can't keep your mouth shut for a while, can you? Now, where is the moment of surprise there?"

Grandpa laughed. "Surprise my butt. He got one surprised already. I think that's good enough for him to get outside his hell hole."

After the longest three weeks, I found myself smiling. "Thanks to both of you."

Grandma waved her hand. "Don't thank us yet. You'll pay for it, Percival."

"Of course, I will, Grandma."

"Yeah, pay me by eating and grooming yourself. I don't want your apartment will smell like a rotten rat. And I don't want to see you looking homeless. What would people think of us? That I starved you to death in my care?"

"Fine. That's a deal."

"Good. Now get out of the car. We have to see Emma dear," Grandpa said.

The parking area of Jefferson Neuro Rehab Facility was huge. The name was in a bold letter of the four-story building.

I followed my grandparents to the glass sliding door to the reception area. The smell of citrusy air freshener wafted my nose.

An Asian receptionist smiled. Grandpa told her about Emma's information. Then she typed something on the keyboard. She told us the room after we signed in the logbook.

The anticipation overwhelmed me as we rode in the elevator. My heart started to beat again.

"Relax, Percie. You'll collapse before you even see Emma." Grandma must have noticed me fidgeting.

I faked a grin at her.

The elevator finally slid open after like an eternity. I took a deep breath before I stepped outside. We passed by some patients just like Emma. I noticed one pressing on the pad of his motorized wheelchair then it moved forward. His legs were gaunt. Only his skin covered the bone that wouldn't look like a skeleton, and a pair of blue socks covering his feet.

He looked and smiled at me. He didn't look old than his early twenties. "You must be Perce?" His voice was a little raspy.

I froze. Only Emma called me by that name.

My eyes widened in surprise. "Yeah. That's me." I offered my hand. We shook hands, and he introduced himself as Jonah.

"Nice to finally meet you, Perce. Emma mentioned you a lot."

Grandpa patted my shoulder before I could say more.

"See you later, Perce!"

Grandpa already opened the door for us. I took a breath before walking in.

I saw Emma immediately sitting in the wheelchair like Jonah, with a laptop on her lap. She paused in the middle of what she was doing. She looked surprised as I was.

Emma still looked the same the last time I saw her. She tied her hair in a neat bun. She was wearing a white daisy printed shirt and a light pink pajama bottom, and a pair of pink socks.

I couldn't wait for a moment. I dashed and knelt in front of her. I stared at her intensely, making sure this wasn't a dream.

She closed the laptop and took my hands while she wandered her eyes from my hair to my face down to my body.

She must have noticed something different in me. My eyes filled with tears. I let her down again.

"What happened to you, Perce?" Her eyes narrowed at me.

I shook my head. I couldn't look at her in the eye anymore.

"Perce, what happened? Mom said you ran away from home. You never told anyone. Nobody knew where did you go. Why did you do that? And what happened to you? Are you sick? You look so thin, so boney."

I held her hands and kissed them. "I'm sorry, Emma. I have to go far away for a while. I couldn't swallow my guilt if I had to stay at home. That house only reminded me of how reckless I was. I'm sorry for not coming here to see you soon."

She started to shake. I threw myself into her. She hugged me tightly while she shook into a sob. I felt guiltier from lying, but I had to do it. At least she wouldn't confront my parents for throwing me out of their home.

"Stop crying, Emma. I'm fine, and I'm here now." I pulled away and knelt again before her.

"You look ugly, Perce. Did you join a hunger strike?" This time she smiled and wrinkled her nose.

"Yeah. Grandpa and Grandma starved me to death. They said, I'm a huge pain in their asses," I said with a hint of mischief while glancing at the two standing behind me.

They chuckled and sauntered towards Emma. They kissed her on the cheek.

Grandpa was the first one to talk. "You look great, darling."

Emma grinned. "Yeah. Unlike some stupid here who ran away then joined hunger strike for a month. Good to see you both, Grandpa, Grandma."

Grandma sniffed and hugged her. "How are you doing here, honey?"

Emma smiled brightly. "I'm good. I learned a lot already. I made friends, and I write something on a laptop when I'm free. I can actually take courses online." She then focused back on me. "How about you, Perce?"

I rose to my feet. I didn't know where to start, because honestly, I had not done anything other than killing myself with guilt.

The two oldies were now sitting on the couch. Emma moved her wheelchair and motioned me to move. She let me sit in her bed.

"I'll still attend college like I promised, Em. Grandpa found an apartment for me, and we're going to check it after."

She giggled. "I'm happy to hear that, despite your hunger strike."

I looked down at her legs then up to her face.

She shook her head. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. Now, what really happened to you? I know you're not telling me the whole story." The worry in her voice was fairly palpable.

She held my hands, squeezing them to let me know it was okay, which I was not. I flinched when her fingers touched the fresh wound that I hid with Band-Aid.

Her horror and shock were so deep. "Don't tell me this is what I think is this Percival? Are you still blaming yourself? What in the hell did you do to yourself? Is this what you did all this time by killing yourself with guilt? You didn't even visit me for the past two weeks because you were busy with what? Hurting yourself!" She yelled at me. Her eyes swam with tears.

I raised my hands to wipe those tears, but she pushed my hand away.

"Don't touch me."

"Emma, please, let me "

She stopped me. "What? Explain? You don't have to, Percival. I may be paraplegic, but I'm not blind." She drove her wheelchair away from me.

I managed to grab the arms of it. She hit my hands to let her go.

“Emma, please? I came here to see you, not to upset you. Just hear me out."

She pretended not to listen to me. She strode her wheelchair towards the door, leaving us alone.

"Why did you have to lie to her, Percival? Why were you still protecting your parents who threw you out like a rag?" Grandma threw me a glare before walking outside with Grandpa.